rM». 


, vj.  Ay  i( 

£ a i tv  n ag  >f 
0[ 

</f  Vtflfv  0 


•7* 


THE  CHINESE  QUESTION 


-7- 


One  who  has  found  a Home  in  China  for  nearly  20  Years, 


AND  CLAIMS  TO 


<oO 

D- 

S 

5 


KNOW  THE  PEOPLE. 


1?  r 


THE  CHINESE  QUESTION. 


The  spectacle  now  presented  by  the  Government  of  this 
country,  in  its  attitude  toward  the  Chinese,  is  one  that  ought 
to  bring  the  blush  of  shame  to  the  face  of  every  honorable, 
fair-minded  man,  leaving  Christianity  altogether  out  of  the 
question. 

I propose  to  answer  as  briefly  as  possible,  for  fairness,  the 
more  prominent  charges  against  the  Chinese,  offered  as  an 
excuse  for  persecuting  them,  for  our  Government’s  failing 
to  fulfill  a solemn  national  treaty,  made  with  the  Chinese 
Government,  to  protect  the  Chinese  in  this  country  ; and 
now,  finally,  for  perpetrating,  in  the  face  of  the  world  and 
heaven,  the  crime  of  adopting  a measure,  by  this  so-called 
Christian  Government,  to  forbid  the  poor  and  needy  of 
China  to  come  to  this  land. 

Ye  shades  of  the  signers  of  our  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence ! Ye  spirits  of  Washington  and  Lincoln  ! with  what 
amazement  must  ye  listen  to  this  new  rendering  of  the 
ancient  principles  of  the  Republic!  “The  poor  and  op- 
pressed of  every  land  save  China  are  welcome  to  this  ‘ land 
of  the  free  and  home  of  the  brave.’  ” ! ! 

But,  let  us  consider  the  charges  that  are  said  to  justify 
such  partial  measures  : 

1st.  “They  come  here  as  a sort  of  slaves.”  This  is 
wholly  untrue.  They  come  here  as  voluntarily  as  do  the 
immigrants  from  across  the  Atlantic.  A needy  family  has 
heard  of  “King  Sang,”  “the  Golden  Hill,”  as  they  call 
California,  and  all  the  family  unite  in  saving  their  meager 
earnings  to  send  one  of  their  number  to  this  far-famed 
“golden  hill,”  with  the  hope  that  he  will  return  able  to 
make  life  more  comfortable  for  them  all. 

Some  of  them  came  here  by  invitation  to  build  our  rail- 
road, which  has  opened  up  the  great  West  and  enriched 


4 


men  who  are  now  persecuting  this  very  people.  They  did 
their  work  faithfully  to  the  end,  and  have  left  that  much 
at  least  of  permanent  benefit  to  us.  But,  asks  one,  “Are 
they  not  in  a sense  owned,  and  bound  to  obey  the  six 
Chinese  companies?”  Not  at  all.  These  companies  are 
simply  benevolent  and  protective  societies,  such  as  are  com- 
mon in  China,  and  much  to  be  commended.  The  Ningpo 
men,  in  Foochow,  for  business  purposes,  form  a Ningpo 
guild,  and  the  Canton  men,  in  Shanghai,  form  a Canton 
guild.  The  object  of  these  guilds  is  to  help  each  other  in 
a friendly  way,  to  relieve  any  member  of  the  guild  in  need, 
to  care  for  them  if  sick,  &c.  They  all  agree  to  certain  rules 
by  which  they  shall  be  governed,  but  the  whole  thing  is 
eutirely  voluntary.  Any  one  is  at  liberty  to  enter  and  to 
withdraw . It  is  in  no  sense  a secret  society  or  an  immi- 
gration bureau. 

2d.  “ They  are  of  the  lowest  classes.”  They  are  of  ex- 
actly the  same  class  as  the  immigrant  from  other  lands. 
The  needy  poor,  with  few  exceptions,  must  ever  be  the  im- 
migrant class.  Those  who  come  to  us  across  the  Pacific  are 
largely  from  the  respectable  farming  class,  who  fall  into 
laundry  wTork,  shoemaking,  &c.,  &c.,  because  these  branches 
of  industry  are  chiefly  open  to  them.  If  they  desired  real 
estate  to  farm,  I think  they  would  find  no  little  difficulty 
in  purchasing.  I have  no  fear  of  the  Chinese  immigrants 
suffering  in  comparison  wuth  those  who  come  across  the  At- 
lantic. It  is  not  the  Chinaman  who  is  too  lazy  to  work,  and 
goes  to  the  almshouse  or  jail.  It  is  not  he  who  reels  through 
our  streets,  defies  our  Sabbath  laws,  deluges  our  country 
with  beer,  and  opposes  all  work  for  temperance  and  the 
salvation  of  our  sons  from  the  liquor  curse.  It  is  not  the 
man  from  across  the  Pacific  wrho  commits  the  fearful  crimes 
we  read  of  in  our  daily  papers,  and  who  is  longing  to  put 
his  hand  to  our  political  wrheel  and  rule  the  United  States. 

3d.  “China  is  so  crowded  that  there  is  great  danger  of 
her  pouring  out  her  millions  and  flooding  our  land  !” 

4th.  “ They  do  not  come  to  stay,  but  just  to  make  what 
they  can  in  a short  time,  and  go  back  home  and  take  their 
earnings.” 

I place  the  4tli  right  beside  the  3d  before  replying  to  the 
latter,  just  to  see  how  lovely  and  consistent  they  look  to- 
gether ! If  the  3d  is  dangerous,  surely  the  4th  should  en- 
courage our  terror-stricken  souls  at  such  an  irruption  ! 
And  yet  the  same  man  will  plead  both  these  arguments  in 
almost  the  same  breath  against  the  Chinese  ! 

But  let  us  consider  No.  3.  “The  Chinese  will  come  in 


5 


such  numbers  as  to  Hood  our  land.”  In  25  years  150,000 
Chinese  have  come  to  this  country.  That  is  to  say,  with  all 
the  pressure  of  their  poverty  and  all  the  promise  this  land 
has  held  out  to  them  of  successful  industry,  together  with 
the  facilities  provided  for  a speedy  and  cheap  transit  hither, 
in  a quarter  of  a century,  fewer  have  come  here  from  China 
than  in  a few  months  of  the  last  year  alone  from  Europe  ! 
What  curious  inequality  of  mind  leads  us  to  fear  the  flood- 
ing by  the  few,  while  we  open  wide  the  gates  to  the  many  \ 
Again,  the  Chinese  here  are  almost  to  a man  from  the  Can- 
ton Province  ; it  is  a local  immigration.  The  whole  nature 
and  education  of  the  Chinese  are  against  removing  from  one 
place  to  another,  even  in  their  own  country.  Only  the 
greatest  pressure  of  circumstances  can  induce  them  to  leave 
their  native  place.  Generation  after  generation  of  the  same 
family  have  lived  in  the  same  locality.  The  home  of  their 
fathers,  the  graves  of  their  ancestors,  fllial  piety,  every- 
thing that  a Chinaman  holds  dear,  gathers  around  and  binds 
him  to  his  native  place.  It  is  said  that  there  are  only  100 
surnames  in  all  China.  The  very  word  for  people  is  pak  sang , 
“the  hundred  surnames.”  A large  village  often  has  but 
two  surnames,  such  as  Ting  and  Tang.  To  these  two  fami- 
lies the  village  belongs,  and  has  belonged  for  ages,  and  all 
their  interests  are  centered  there.  The  sacredness  of  family 
ties  is  nowhere  more  carefully  taught  than  in  China.  A 
cousin  of  the  second  degree  is  called  brother,  and  all  family 
ties  imply  duties  which  cannot  be  shirked.  The  Chinaman, 
from  his  earliest  days,  is  taught  that  his  highest  duty  is  to 
his  parents  ; and  upon  the  condition  of  obeying,  serving  and 
supporting  them  in  this  life,  and  making  sacrifices  to  their 
spirits  after  death,  depends  his  prosperity  here  and  his 
eternal  welfare.  This  universally  recognized  duty  must 
ever  be  a great  obstacle  to  emigration,  and  the  sure  pledge 
of  their  return  to  their  native  land.  We  may  call  all  this 
foolish  ; but  I honor  the  Chinaman  for  his  obedience  to  his 
convictions  of  right,  and  think  many  a Christian  might  learn 
a much-needed  lesson  from  his  zeal.  As  to  the  charge  that 
a Chinaman  forfeits  his  citizenship  if  he  is  absent  from  his 
country  beyond  a certain  time,  1 answer  that  is  all  nonsense. 
There  is  no  such  law  and  no  such  penalty. 

And  now  for  charge  4th  . 

“ They  do  not  come  to  stay,  but  to  make  all  they  can  in 
a short  time,  and  then  return  home  and  take  their  earnings 
with  them.” 

Intelligent  men,  who  know  too  much  to  fear  a Chinese  flood, 
and  who  are  too  just  to  countenance  their  persecution,  still 


6 


quote  this  argument.  Let  us  look  at  it.  Of  courseit  neutralizes 
and  renders  harmless  No.  3 at  once  ! It  is  true  they  do  not 
come  to  stay  ; and  I can’t  help  saying  what  a pity  some 
others  do  not  follow  their  example  ! Did  they  do  so,  I 
would  not  have  heard,  as  I did  last  night,  this  apology  from 
an  intelligent  man  for  the  corruption  of  our  political  parties, 
“ You  must  remember,”  said  he,  “all  we  have  to  contend 
with — that  foreigners  control  our  politics.”  The  problem 
of  a successful  republican  government,  with  universal  suf- 
frage, has  not  yet  been  worked  out. 

However,  there  is  nothing  in  our  Constitution  or  laws 
which  defines  the  length  of  time  any  one  must  promise  to 
stay  in  this  land  to  secure  him  the  right  of  entrance.  But 
this  objection  becomes  the  veriest  mockery  when  we  re- 
member the  welcome  we  give  these  strangers,  and  how  com- 
fortable we  make  them  while  here ! The  mud  thrown  by 
Christian  boys  (of  course  they  are  not  heathen)  upon  the 
snowy  clothes,  ready  to  iron  after  the  weary  washing  by 
the  Chinese  laundry  man,  the  broken  windows,  the  stones, 
the  grossest  abuse  by  people  and  press,  the  palpable  false- 
hoods against  the  Chinese  published  by  many  of  the  most 
respectable  papers  ; all  these  do  not  strike  one  as  the 
wisest  arguments  a Christian  people  can  use  to  induce  the 
Chinese  to  stay  ! But  if  this  is  an  argument  against  the 
Chinaman,  what  about  the  American  in  China  \ He  goes 
there  for  the  express  purpose  of  making  all  the  money  he 
can,  whether  it  be  from  tea,  silk  or  opium,  to  spend  as  little 
as  possible  in  China — importing  his  stores  and  clothing  from 
London,  New  York  or  San  Francisco — and  only  buying  per 
ishable  meats,  vegetables  and  fruit  in  China,  and  bringing 
home  with  him  all  his  earnings — ten  dollars  to  every  one 
the  Chinaman  takes  out  of  our  country — and  I regret  to  say 
not  always  leaving  a blessing  or  an  improved  people  behind 
him. 

From  the  careful  examination  and  statistics  of  a reliable 
writer,  I find  that  the  Chinese  in  one  year  alone  expended 
of  their  earnings  in  this  country  $6,000,000,  and  paid  to  our 
revenues  in  taxes  and  customs  $2,400,000,  while  they  sent 
out  of  the  country  only  $2,000,000,  leaving  a large  balance 
of  millions  here.  Moreover,  if  the  Chinese  are  decently 
treated,  they  may  stay  in  considerable  numbers.  They  do 
not  go  anywhere  with  the  purpose  of  staying,  but  when 
well  treated  and  prosperous,  they  do  settle  down,  as  in 
Singapore  and  other  places  in  the  Straits,  where  there  are 
now  many  Chinese  who  have  never  seen  China* 

5th.  “ They  do  not  bring  their  wives  here.”  The  customs 


jfjo*  C4-  SrvwO  '-rff  ■> 

. jLz, 


7 


of  most  heathen  nations  seclude  women.  In  China  there  is 
more  than  this  custom  to  keep  the  wife  at  home.  Accord- 
ing to  the  education  of  the  Chinese,  it  is  the  highest  duty 
of  the  wife  to  be  the  keeper  at  home,  and  especially  to  serve 
the  parents  of  her  husband  in  his  absence,  and  to  attend  to 
the  affairs  of  the  family,  which  she  often  does  with  great 
skill.  It  would  indeed  be  an  unfilial  son  who  left  his 
parents  without  the  care  of  his  wife.  This  may  strike  the 
American  (in  whom  filial  piety  is  a virtue  fast  fading  out) 
as  most  foolish.  But  then  it  is  certainly  no  crime  and  no 
reasonable  cause  for  excluding  the  Chinese  from  the  United 
States.  This  may  tend  to  immorality,  but  not  to  the  extent 
practised  by  not  a few  early  residents  of  California  who  had 
families  in  both  the  East  and  West.  In  the  Chinaman’s 
case  the  first  wife  is  the  chief  always.  This  cannot  be  said 
of  American  polygamists ! I regret  to  say  that  such  an 
argument  carried  out  would  speedily  terminate  the  resi- 
dence of  many  an  American  and  European  in  China.  This 
argument  had  as  well  not  be  pressed  in  the  face  of  Mor- 
monism  and  the  well-known  lives  of  various  people  not  a 
thousand  miles  from  any  body  ! 

6th.  “They  endanger  our  morals,  especially  by  their  evil 
women.”  And  will  the  Californian  use  such  an  argument  % 
The  horrors  that  I heard  and  facts  that  polluted  the  air  in 
San  Francisco,  and  smaller  towns,  come  up  to  me  so  vividly 
that  I am  amazed  that  people  living  in  so  frail  a “ glass 
house ” dare  to  throw  a stone  like  this  at  the  more  respect- 
able house  of  the  Chinese.  There  are  many  good  people  in 
California,  and  I honor  them  for  their  struggle  against 
wrong.  But,  alas ! the  reputation  of  San  Francisco  and 
other  places  is  badly  tattered.  I shall  never  forget  the 
shock  I experienced  when  just  after  our  arrival  in  San 
Francisco  from  China,  we  were  on  our  way  to  church  one 
Sunday  morning,  and  a man  went  shouting  through  the 
street — “sweet  oranges,  fresh  peas  for  sale!”  and  our 
Chinese  servant  quietly  remarked,  “ Teacheress,  it  is  just 
about  the  same  here  as  in  China,  isn’t  it  ?”  I then  awakened 
to  the  realization  of  the  fact  that  I was  in  a Christian  city 
where  the  Sabbath  was  not  regarded.  But  to  return  to  the 
Chinese  women.  So  far  as  I have  seen,  they  are  at  least 
decently  clothed , which  is  more  than  I can  say  of  the  white 
creatures  of  the  same  class  I saw  in  San  Francisco.  There 
is  also  this  difference.  The  latter  have  chosen  their  life  of 
sin  in  the  full  blaze  of  the  saving  Christian  light  of  this 
land,  while  the  Chinese  woman  in  San  Francisco  had  prob- 
ably had  no  choice  in  her  life,  and  certainly  no  light  from 


8 


Christianity.  She  is,  in  a large  majority  of  cases,  more 
sinned  against  than  sinning. 

But  let  the  pleader  of  this  last  refuge  of  lies  tread  care- 
fully here,  and  note  the  following : 

“In  1872  the  Legislature  of  California  passed  a law 
creating  a Commissioner  of  Immigration,  with  power  to  ex- 
amine immigrants,  and  to  forbid  the  landing  of  those  whom 
he  should  find  to  be  criminals,  or  lewd  persons,  or  afflicted 
with  contagious  diseases.  Under  the  provisions  of  that  Act 
the  Commissioner  forbade  the  landing  of  22  Chinese  women 
from  the  steamer  Japan,  which  arrived  in  August,  1873. 
The  women  dealers,  by  the  help  of  lawyers  of  a certain 
class,  obtained  a writ  of  habeas  corpus , and  brought  the 
women  on  shore  before  Judge  Morrison  of  the  Fourth  Dis- 
trict Court.  The  Judge  sustained  the  Commissioner,  and 
remanded  the  women  back  to  the  Steamship  Company  to 
be  returned  to  China. 

“Immediately  after  Judge  Morrison’s  decision  was  pro- 
nounced, Messrs.  Edgerton  and  Quint  obtained  a writ  of 
habeas  corpus  from  Chief  Justice  Wallace,  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  upon  the  allegation  that  the  women  were  illegally 
detained  by  the  Captain  of  the  Japan.  The  writ  was 
executed  and  the  women  escorted  back  to  the  county 
jail.” 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  of  California  sustained 
the  ruling  of  Judge  Morrison,  and  the  women  were  a sec- 
ond time  remanded  back  to  the  steamer.  But  the  women 
dealers  and  their  unprincipled  lawyers  then  applied  to  the 
United  States  District  Court,  procured  a third  writ  of  habeas 
corpus,  and  the  case  was  tried  before  that  tribunal,  which 
reversed  the  decision  of  Judge  Morrison  and  the  Supreme 
Court  of  California,  pronounced  the  law  under  which  the 
Commissioner  had  acted  unconstitutional,  and  ordered  the 
women  to  be  allowed  their  freedom.  Respectable  Chinese 
merchants  in  San  Francisco  stood  ready  to  pay  the  passage 
of  such  women  right  back  to  China.  The  Chinese  Govern- 
ment itself  (without  doubt)  would  quickly  respond  to 
any  action  on  the  part  of  our  Government  for  ex- 
cluding Chinese  vice,  though  it  might  in  fairness  insist 
upon  a speedy  clearing  of  its  own  ports  of  like  women, 
gamblers  and  drunkards,  not  Chinese ! We  have  been 
forced  to  endure  the  company  of  such  white  women  (Ameri- 
cans) on  our  way  to  China,  and  have  felt  that  the  less  we 
said  about  our  national  morality  the  better.  Any  and  all 
evils  found  to-day  in  Chinatown,  San  Francisco,  are  simply 
a shame  to  the  authorities  of  that  city,  and  entirely  under 


9 


their  control.  There  are  no  people  more  amenable  to  law 
than  the  Chinese. 

The  authorities  in  Hong  Kong  ordered  the  Chinese  shop- 
keepers there  to  put  up  glass  fronts  to  their  shops,  and  it 
was  done.  But  alas  ! it  is  by  no  means  a secret  that  the 
very  officers  who  in  San  Francisco  by  solemn  oath  are 
bound  to  do  their  utmost  to  stop  crime,  wink  at  it  for  the 
sake  of  the  bribes  with  which  their  hands  are  Jalack.  Evil 
men  come  from  China  as  from  other  countries,  but  the  bad 
Chinaman  can  be  sent  back  or  controlled  more  easily  than 
others.  Chinese  gambling  dens  and  brothels  can  be  utterly 
rooted  out  of  Chinatown  whenever  the  high-minded  officers 
of  that  city  can  consent  to  forego  the  bribes  they  now  re- 
ceive. When  they  have  attained  to  so  high  a state  of  grace 
as  this,  and  Chinatown  is  cleaned  up,  I would  humbly  sug- 
gest that  if  they  put  on  their  glasses  and  look  around,  they 
may  find  a few  other  like  dens  not  imported  from  China; 
and  like  places  may  be  found  in  Philadelphia,  New  York, 
Brooklyn,  and  the  model  city  of  Boston  itself,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  moral  (?)  cities  of  Chicago  and  Cincinnati. 
“ Consistency,  thou  art  a jewel ! ! ” 

In  the  meanwhile  let  the  American  people  meditate  upon 
the  answer  of  the  President  of  one  of  the  “ Six  Chinese 
Companies”  in  San  Francisco,  to  Mayor  Bryant,  in  reply 
to  his  condemnation  of  Chinese  prostitution.  “Yes,  yes, 
Chinese  prostitution  is  bad.  What  do  you  think  of  Ger- 
man, French,  Spanish  and  American  prostitution  ? Do  you 
think  them  good  ?”  This  astute  heathen  wondered  at  the 
Christian  (save  the  mark  !)  silence  and  forbearance  toward 
the  many , and  the  loud  horror-stricken  hoot  after  the  few. 
Very  stupid  and  heathenish  the  question,  no  doubt;  but 
then  we  canS  t make  a law  to  prevent  even  the  Chinese  from 
thinking,  questioning,  and  drawing  conclusions  ! “First, 
cast  out  the  beam  out  of  thine  own  eye,  and  then  shalt  thou 
see  clearly  to  cast  out  the  mote  out  of  thy  brother' s eye  !” 

7th.  “ The  Chinese  cheapen  labor,  an  cl  throw  others  out 
of  employ.”  The  cry  not  so  many  years  ago  in  California 
was  against  the  exorbitant  prices  demanded  for  labor.  A 
few  had  command  of  the  labor  market.  To-day  it  is  against 
the  cheap  labor  of  the  Chinese;  but  this  is  largely  used  for 
strangers  who  are  ignorant  of  W estern  prices. 

There  is  absolutely  no  such  thing  as  cheap  labor  on  the 
Pacific  Coast.  An  untrained  Chinaman  commands  from  $3 
to  $5  a week  and  board  in  kitchen  employ;  Chinese  cooks 
from  $20  to  $30  a month  and  board.  Is  this  cheap  labor  ? 

A gentleman  from  the  Pacific  Coast,  whom  I met  in  Rome 


10 


not  long  since,  made  to  me,  as  one  of  his  charges  against 
the  Chinese,  this  one  of  “cheap  labor,”  but  quickly 
yielded  the  point  when  he  found  that  I was  posted  on 
prices  in  California.  The  Chinaman  takes  the  'place  of  no 
one  who  will  do  the  work  as  well  as  he,  but  when  unfaith- 
fulness, dishonesty,  and  utter  disregard  of  the  employer’s 
interests  are  superseded  by  faithfulness,  honesty,  and  a re- 
cognition of  „duty  to  give  a fair  return  of  work  for  wages 
received,  who  will  complain  of  such  a change  ? 

For  years  in  this  my  native  land  I had  an  experience — 
yea,  many  experiences — with  American,  Irish  and  colored 
servants.  For  twenty  years  I have  had  Chinese  servants  in 
China,  and  if  I could'  now  choose  my  servants  or  employees 
of  any  kind  from  all  the  world,  I would  take  the  Chinese 
every  time,  for  faithfulness,  • courtesy,  honesty,  neatness, 
and  everything  else  that  makes  a servant  valuable,  not  for- 
getting gratitude  and  affection  in  return  for  kindness  re- 
ceived. Not  but  that  the  Chinese  can  be  spoiled  by  want 
of  system,  &c.,  but  in  a house  where  there  is  any  proper 
system  and  order  they  are  the  best  servants  in  the  world, 
and  are  far  less  untruthful  and  dishonest  than  the  mass  of 
our  servants  here  ; and  this  I assert,  not  alone  from  my  own 
long  experience,  but  from  the  wail  that  reaches  me  wherever 
I go,  from  the  housekeepers  of  the  land.  I know  of  no 
greater  temporal  blessing  to-day  that  could  be  given  to  the 
homes  of  this  land,  than  that  of  Chinese  servants;  and  if 
half  the  energy  expended  by  the  Californians  in  persecu- 
ting the  Chinese  had  been  kindly  used  in  distributing  them 
in  little  companies  over  our  country  (they  are  open  to 
reason  and  kindness),  we  would  have  been  saved  a very 
dark  page  in  our  history,  and  many  a home  would  have 
been  blessed.  Recently  I met  an  American  merchant  whom 
I had  known  many  years  in  China.  After  his  first  greeting 
he  exclaimed,  as  from  the  “abundance  of  his  heart,”  “we 
don’t  know  how  to  live  here  ! It  isn’t  living,  with  such  serv- 
ants as  we  have  here.  We  thought  that  we  would  treat  them 
just  as  we  did  our  Chinese  servants — trust  them,  and 
let  them  go  right  along  in  the  work  they  were  paid  to  do; 
but  we  soon  learned  to  our  cost  that  Ave  could  do  nothing  of 
the  kind.  I thought  I always  did  appreciate  the  Chinese, 
but  I find  I have  not  measured  them  at  half  their  worth  !” 
And  it  was  not  alone  Chinese  servants  that  he  praised  ; but 
it  would  amaze  some  of  our  business  men  here  to  have 
heard  the  contrast  this  able  business  man  drew  between 
Chinese  and  American  merchants. 

He  did  not  say  that  it  Avas  the  Chinese  merchant  that  he 


11 


had  to  be  the  most  guarded  with  in  business  transactions  ! 
Passing  recently  from  China  to  India,  on  our  way  to  Cal- 
cutta, we  called  at  Singapore  and  Penang,  and  were  told 
there  by  English  residents  of  reliability,  that  the  men  of 
business  integrity,  wealth  and  good  character  in  those 
islands  were  Chinese  ; and  they  bear  a like  good  character 
in  Calcutta.  And  yet  the  American  voter,  shutting  his  ears 
to  the  cry  of  the  weary  wife  by  his  side,  or  even  the  prob- 
abilities of  a most  lucrative  trade  between  China  and  our 
country,  still  declares  the  Chinaman  must  go ; and  I re- 
spond in  the  name  of  common  justice  and  humanity,  Giod 
hasten  the  day  of  their  departure ! The  Pacific  coast  people 
will  then  have  abundant  leisure  to  meditate  upon  many  a 
ruined  industry,  and  there  will  be  less  money  to  buy  votes  ! 
The  Chinaman  can  return  to  his  land,  and  truthfully  say, 
“ Confucius’  teachings  have  made  us  more  courteous  to  the 
American  stranger  in  China  than  have  Christ’s  teachings 
made  the  American  toward  the  Chinese  stranger  in  their 
land  !”  I must  say  with  shame  and  confusion  of  face  that 
the  heathen  Government  of  China  has  kept  its  treaty  in  our 
protection  in  China,  while  the  Christian  Government  of 
this  land  has  failed  to  keep  its  treaty  with  China.  Chinese 
have  been  taxed  when  entering  the  country  and  when  leav- 
ing it ; invidious  taxation  in  many  ways,  which  could  be 
enumerated,  has  been  put  upon  them,  and  laws  enacted 
especially  against  them. 

They  have  been  beaten  and  killed,  and  no  one  has  re- 
dressed their  wrongs.  Even  their  homes  have  not  been  their 
refuge.  They  have  been  compelled  to  pay  school  tax,  and 
not  allowed  to  enter  the  schools  they  have  had  to  help  sup- 
port. If  they  go  iuto  the  streets  they  are  insulted,  if  they 
stay  at  home  they  are  not  exempt ; and  yet  the  testimony 
of  bankers  and  business  men  who  have  dealings  with  the 
Chinese  in  any  part  of  the  world  is,  that  there  are  no  more 
reliable  business  men,  none  of  higher  integrity  than  the 
Chinese.  Customs  officials  and  tax  collectors  are  compelled 
to  acknowledge  that  none  in  the  land  are  more  prompt  in 
the  payment  of  their  dues,  and  renters  assure  me  that  they 
have  no  better,  more  quiet,  or  regular  paying  tenants  ; 
though  one  renter  recently  told  me  in  Philadelphia 
(“the  City  of  Brotherly  Love"),  he  had  had  to  expend  some 
$40  in  mending  the  windows  of  one  Chinese  tenant — win- 
dows demolished  by  the  lads  of  the  city  ! I here  assert, 
fearless  of  any  counter  statement  capable  of  proof ',  that  the 
Chinese  to-day,  as  a whole,  are  the  most  industrious,  quiet, 


12 


patient,  forbearing  (O,  how  forbearing  !),  honest,  and  sober 
immigrants  in  this  land. 

8th.  “They  look  so  impassive,  keep  themselves  to  them- 
selves as  though  they  had  no  hearts.”  Well,  it  is  amazing 
that  they. don’t  run  into  our  arms!  We  could  aim  our 
stones  more  surely  then,  and  the  mud  would  spatter  more 
generally!  “Love  your  enemies,”  “pray  for  them  who 
curse  you,”  are  Christian  teachings  that,  alas!  the 
“ heathen  Chinee  ” has  never  learned.  He  has  learned  the 
lesson  not  to  strike  back  well  in  this  land.  My  own 
Christian  Chinese  servant,  a courteous , faithful  man,  is 
learning  this  CTiristian  grace  in  a hard  school.  One  Sab- 
bath day,  in  a respectable  part  of  the  “ City  of  Churches,” 
he  took  my  two-year-old  boy  into  the  street,  and  soon 
they  returned,  with  their  hands  full  of  stones  thrown  at 
them,  any  one  of  which  might  have  killed  my  little  boy  had 
it  struck  him. 

For  the  first  time,  the  man  showed  indignation  and  a de- 
sire to  resent  these  insults;  and  then,  more  for  the  sake  of 
the  little  boy  he  so  tenderly  loves  and  cares  for  than  for 
himself,  said  he,  “Teacheress,  may  I go  after  them  if  they 
do  it  again?”  And  I,  with  an  effort,  answered,  “ No  ; re- 
member the  Christ  doctrine,  ‘ Love  your  enemies,  bless 
them  that  curse  you,’  ” to  which  he  assented,  and  again  took 
up  his  life  of  forbearance.  And  I knew  all  the  time  that 
any  other  man  (American)  would  have  either  caned  those 
stone-throwers  or  handed  them  over  to  the  police  ! And 
now  I have  conscientiously  and  fairly,  I think — warmly, 
with  a righteous  indignation,  I admit— answered  the  pop- 
ular charges  against  the  Chinese.  Some  one  is  ready  to  ex- 
claim, “If  all  you  have  said  is  true,  and  we  can’t  say  it  is 
not,  what  is  the  source  of  this  anti-Chinese  howl?”  My 
friend,  your  question  is  easily  answered.  The  immigrant 
from  across  the  Atlantic  desires  and  intends  to  command 
the  labor  market  here,  not  only  to  rule  in  our  homes,  but  in 
every  other  department  of  industry  into  which  he  enters,  to 
fix  prices  of  labor,  to  strike  for  more,  to  do  or  not  to  do, 
without  fear  of  competition.  An  efficient  competitor  is  his 
only  obstacle. 

He  now  holds  the  “balance  of  power”  at  the  polls,  and 
he  says  to  the  politician:  “My  competitor,  who  stands  in 
the  way  of  my  inalienable  right  to  rule,  must  go,”  and  down 
goes  the  politician  on  his  knees  before  this  “balance  of 
power.” 

This  is  the  secret  of  the  hate  against  the  Chinese. 

And  here,  in  speaking  of  the  immigrant  from  across  the 


13 


Atlantic,  I want  to  except  the  good  men  and  women  who 
come  to  us,  who  are  honest,  iudustrious  and  sober,  and  who 
are  a strength  to  our  country.  I regret  that  I have  not, 
however,  found  more  than  one  among  them  (and  she  a re- 
cent convert)  who  stood  on  the  just  side  of  the  Chinese 
question.  But  I don’t  expect  more  of  respectable  Germans 
and  Irish  than  of  the  same  class  of  Americans. 

I want  further  to  say  that  there  are  good,  honest  men  in 
the  East  who  really  believe  the  miserable  lies  concocted  in 
the  West  against  the  Chinese;  but  I cannot  regard  even  such 
as  excusable.  Certainly  in  these  days  of  intelligence  and 
facilities  for  obtaining  information,  some  near  approach  to 
truth  could  be  reached,  and  should  be,  before  men  vote  to 
exclude  a race  from  the  rights  granted  freely  to  others.  But, 
unfortunately,  I find  that  men  who  read  newspaper  state- 
ments on  other,  subjects  with  eyes  open  and  brains  alert, 
just  swallow  without  questioning  anything  and  everything 
said  against  the  Chinese  ; vide  the  recent  popular  news- 
paper paragraph  that  the  Chinese  Government  had  be- 
headed a Chinese  student  in  Hong  Kong  for  falling  in  love 
with  an  American  girl ! If  the  reader  and  editor  did  not 
know  that  the  Chinese  Government  does  not  punish  its  sub- 
jects for  being  smitten  with  the  charms  of  the  foreign  fair 
one,  they  at  least  ought  to  have  known  that  Hong  Kong  is 
an  English  colony,  and  that  the  Chinese  Government  does 
not  behead  its  love- stricken  subjects  under  the  shadow  of 
the  British  flag  ! And  yet  this  paragraph  has  been  quoted 
to  me  against  the  Chinese  by  men  of  great  intelligence  ! If 
the  Chinese  people  are  what  the  American  fancy  paints  them, 
then  the  conundrum  remains  how  a beneficent  Creator  could 
permit  one-third  of  humanity  to  be  of  this  “vile  race.” 
But  knowing  them  as  I do,  not  from  newspaper  items  and 
the  hatred  of  the  “ balance  of  power,”  but  from  a personal 
knowledge  of  all  classes  of  the  people  in  their  own  country, 
knowing  them  to  be  industrious  beyond  any  other  people,  \ 
patient  under  trial,  cheerful  under  burdens,  fond  of  learn- 
ing to  such  an  extent  that  they  have  a literary  instead  of  a 
moneyed  aristocracy,  showing  a respect  to  age  almost  un- 
known to  this  land,  filial  piety  the  central  virtue  around 
which  all  others  cluster,  and  upon  which  their  present  and 
eternal  welfare  hangs,  the  virtue  which  ever  takes  them 
back  to  their  native  land  and  the  graves  of  their  fathers— 
knowing  all  these  to  be  the  marked  characteristics  of  the 
great  Chinese  people,  I no  longer  wonder  that  the  Creator 
has  made  one- third  of  the  human  race  after  the  Chinese 
pattern,  and  only,  nay,  less  than  50,000,000  Americans. 


14 


Nor  do  I wonder  that  He  has  given  to  them  a country 
greater  in  extent  than  our  own,  and  as  rich  in  minerals,  soil 
and  scenery.  I only  wonder  that  He  has  given  to  us  (who 
in  more  respects  than  one  are  not  the  equals  of  the  Chinese) 
the  crowning  blessing  of  humanity — a knowledge  of  Christ — 
instead  of  giving  it  to  the  greater  people.  Let  us  see  to  it 
that  in  our  treatment  of  that  people  we  offend  not  the  King 
of  Kings.  He  may  bear  long,  but  in  the  end  we  shall  cer- 
tainly “reap  what  we  sow,"  as  a nation  as  well  as  in- 
dividuals. 

Finally : I appeal  to  the  Christian  men  of  the  country. 
I know  that  Christianity  is  not  a failure ; it  is  not  in  this 
country  ; it  is  not  in  China.  It  can  make  men  true,  honor- 
able, morally  courageous,  and  just  and  kind  to  all  men. 
Wherever  these  fruits  are  wanting  it  is  not  the  fault  of 
Christianity,  but  because  the  true  work  is  not  there.  Ig- 
norance that  can  be  enlightened  can  never  excuse  a wrong 
to  our  fellow  man.  Have  the  Christians  in  this  land  tried 
to  save  the  Chinese  and  to  show  them  that  our  Christianity  is 
the  treasure  that  makes  this  nation  to  differ  from  theirs  in 
anything  we  have  of  greater  good  ? Do  the  Chinese  come 
back  to  us  in  China  favorably  inclined  toward  Christianity 
and  ready  to  report  well  upon  it  to  their  families  and 
friends  % 

England  has  placed  an  awful  obstacle  in  the  way  of  mis- 
sion work  in  China,  in  forcing  the  opium  trade  on  that 
people,  and  holding  it  there  to  the  ruin  of  millions  in  spite 
of  the  expostulations  of  the  Chinese  Government  and  the 
wail  of  agony  that  goes  up  from  almost  every  home  of  that 
land.  And  now  the  other  great  Christian  nation  of  the 
world,  our  own  United  States,  takes  her  stand  beside  Eng- 
land to  block  our  work  for  China ! 

We  who  go  to  that  land  not  for  dollars  but  for  souls, 
stand  amazed  and  heartsick  at  the  two  greatest  Christian 
nations  of  the  world,  at  the  obstacles  they  are  placing  in 
the  way  of  Christianizing  the  greatest  heathen  nation  in  the 
world. ' Surely  the  blotting  out  three-quarters  of  the  dis- 
tance separating  China  and  Japan  from  the  United  States, 
by  the  Pacific  Mail  steamer  line,  has  a more  important  sig- 
nificance than  simply  to  expedite  the  transit  of  tea  and  silks 
to  our  country,  the  filling  of  our  merchants’  pockets  and 
the  increase  of  trade. 

The  political  economist  may  see  nothing  more,  but  the 
Christian  man  must  see  a far  more  important  result  in  the 
placing  of  the  greatest  heathen  nation  of  the  earth  almost 
beside  the  greatest  Christian  nation.  If  we  fail  to  do  our 


15 


duty,  the  time  will  come  when  we  will  certainly  see  and 
mourn  that  failure. 

The  Chinese  were  partial  to  Americans  because  we  did  not 
force  the  opium  curse  upon  them.  The  trade  of  that  rich 
country  is  yet  to  be  developed.  W e might  have  had  a large 
share  in  the  development  of  its  mines,  railroads,  &c.,  which 
is  sure  soon  to  come.  But  as  we  are  now  doing,  we  are  not 
only  blocking  the  way  of  the  Missionary  in  China,  but  man- 
ufacturing a sentiment  there  against  us.  In  this,  too,  we 
will  reap  as  we  have  sown  ! 

Esther  E.  Baldwin. 

109  St.  James’  Place, 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

March  9,  1882. 

P.  S. — I have  been  greatly  rejoiced  at  the  report  of  Sena- 
tor Hoar’s  manly  and  just  speech,  which  has  come  to  hand 
since  I began  to  write  ; and  I beg  him  and  the  few  others, 
such  as  Senators  Dawes,  Hawley  and  Platt,  who  have  stood 
for  our  ancient  principles  and  the  right,  to  accept  my 
humble  thanks.  The  prospect  is  that  they  will  receive  so 
few  that  those  of  even  one  woman  may  count  for  something. 
I wish  also  to  gratefully  acknowledge  the  manly  and  truth- 
ful editorial  of  the  New  York  Independent , in  its  issue  of 
to-day  (March  9).  It  is  such  as  was  to  be  expected  of  a 
paper  that  has  always  stood  by  its  convictions  of  right, 
without  regard  to  present  expediency,  or  the  risk  of  losing- 
popularity.  ‘ E.  E.  B. 


